1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a trailer hitch device, and more particularly to a trailer hitch alignments device for hitching a trailer to a vehicle fitted with a fifth wheel hitch, where the device is additionally a laser level.
2) Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,505 B1 to Capik et al. teaches an optically guided alignment system. The invention teaches a trailer hitch alignment apparatus having a pair of light sources that emit different color light beams. The patent teaches that a single light source 24 can be aligned with a target 32, and discusses this in col. 5, lines 3-10. Referring to FIG. 3, alternate positions are shown for light source 22 (not shown) and 24. The light source is located adjacent to the rear 48 of cab section 50 of a pickup truck. Colored light beams 18, 20 are directed at a target location 32 at a point, which offers the driver of the tow vehicle 10 an unobstructed view of the target location 32.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,252,497 B1 to Dupay et al. teaches a coupling alignment warning system (CAWS). The invention utilizes electronic circuit to analyze a laser beam directed from the back of the cab to a target onto the trailer 62. In its broadest sense the invention teaches, as shown in FIG. 3 and 4, and discussed in col. 7, line 65 to col. 8, line 10, a rugged enclosure 64 is mounted to a back wall 66 of towing unit 60, above the grease and contaminant area, so that light beam 15 emitted by a laser source 12, is directed generally perpendicular to wall 66 of towing unit 60. Further, rugged enclosure 64 is mounted at a height X defined by a top surface 84 of plate hitch 80 when hitch plate 80 is level and the axis beam emitted from the laser source 12 being mounted in rugged enclosure 64 as best shown in FIG. 3. Retro-reflective target 70 is mounted to a front vertical surface 68 of towed unit 62 at a height corresponding to the height X at which the rugged enclosure is installed. The rugged enclosure is the term employed in the patent to describe a laser mounted in a protective housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,230 B2 to Steven C. Dupay is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 6,252,497 B1 cited above. Illustrated in FIG. 6 and described in col. 10, lines 8-13 is a laser source 12 mounted in a rugged enclosure 64 aligned so that the laser light beam 15 strikes the center of a retro-reflective target 70.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,793,494 B2 to Varshneya et al. teaches a laser small arms transmitter that can be clamped to a barrel of a weapon such as an M17 rifle. The clamp is shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 and described in col. 5, line 61. Shafts 30 and 32 (FIG. 4) extend downwardly from the projections 24d and 24e. A clamp 34 (FIG. 3) has a pair of apertures 36 and 38 through which the shafts 30 and 32 extend, respectively. A bolt end 40 on the lower end of the shaft prevents the clamp from being completely removed.
While the prior art teaches the use of lasers to determine optical ranging, it fails to teach a relatively inexpensive device that can be quickly fitted to a vehicle, usually a pickup truck, having a fifth wheel hitch that is typically removable. Furthermore, the prior art does not teach a device that can have multiple functions, both on and off the pickup truck, where the functions are all incorporated into one device. Furthermore, the prior art does not teach a device that can be quickly removed from the vehicle, as it, like the fifth wheel, will not advantageously be permanently fixed to the vehicle. What is further needed is a device that is user friendly, and substantially requires little or no training.